We were massively hit by injury and withdrawals from this game - not making excuses (honestly) - and Skipper Todorow did well to raise 10. Some of the guys then put a call out to their friend Mohib who turned up later. In fact, it was a 12-a-side game which had been suggested by United earlier in the week but, technophobe that I am, I had missed the email. The away side had an extra man and it was agreed that they would lend us a fielder and one of our men could bat twice.
Due to uncertainties about our depleted batting line-up, Todorow inserted Wimbledon and received an early-ish reward with Imran making the breakthrough with the score around 30. The scoring rate was decent but Nomads struck again when the skipper hit the stumps with an "Overpitched Yorker." The batsman said he had been playing almost entirely on the leg side and was confused because Todorow set him a 7-3 Off Side field and tried to work the crafty interpreter to leg. Anyway, 50 for 2. Game in the Balance.
Well, that was about as good as it got. A magnificent partnership of over 150 led by Alex made for a tough afternoon in the heat for Nomads' fielders. Easily the best fielder on display was United's Dave Hitchman who got through loads of work for us and was one of the few fielders to whom the Dons did not run 1s and 2s at will. As in the last game, punishment was fairly even, with Sami, Emil and Riaz probably the pick of the bowlers. Mohib went for 25 off his 2 but I thought he bowled reasonably well. There was one brief quiet spell towards the end of the innings with Riaz and Emil bowling but that turned out to be Alex's nervous nineties and the batsman soon notched up his first century for the club. As if Wimbledon don't have enough top quality batting options anyway what with Dave Hitchman and Sameer (who was not playing in this game but had made 160 the previous week.) Nomads' bowlers stuck to the task but the fielding was not great with numerous groundfielding errors. Darwin and Abdul (despite a shoulder injury) were 2 of the better fielders. 2 late wickets including a smart catch by wicket-keeper John Crossland off Darwin saw the innings close on 223 for 4 off the full 35.
Nomads were missing 4 men who were our regular Top 4 last season; Mark, Mahesh, Prasanth and Hassan. A lot was going to depend on Gul, Riaz and Darwin. Still, we had to be positive and Mohib was also highly spoken of. Anyway, we all know that Joseph Hood in High Summer is a batsman's paradise.........
.......Or is it? After 6.1 overs, Nomads were 16 for 4 with Peter Brown, "The Southfields Express", cutting a swathe through us and Nomads frankly looking odds-on to break a long-standing record (our all-time low innings total of 39.) Sound play by Abdul and Hamid took us past this first target before Hamid was caught. 40 for 5. Abdul and Nick Lefebve then put on 47 to restore some respectability with the veteran blocker leaving anything outside off, prodding out anything on the stumps and having a wild and usually unsuccessful swish at anything outside leg. This succeeded in boring the spectators, frustrating the bowlers and contributing 4 to the partnership while Abdul hit some nice 4s off the slow-medium Samir who tended to overpitch. Unfortunately the win was now beyond us. The 50 stand was prevented when Abdul was bowled by Dean for a fine 43. With Riaz being, by popular choice, the man who would bat again, the remaining batsman started to go for their shots. Sami made a cameo 12 with 2 nice leg-side boundaries, Lefebve and Imran were bowled slogging and then Emil played nicely for a quick 12. Riaz returned and gave us what we wanted to see with a towering 6 over mid-wicket to take the deficit below 100 just before we ran out of overs.
Despite (as Old Leagonians would say) having our pants pulled down for the first time this season, this was an enjoyable afternoon as games against Wimbledon United usually are. They are a very talented side and we have done well to beat them twice (and to be a only a fingertip away from a third win) since May 2013.
Man of the Match was Abdul; by far the bast batting and he fielded OK despite injury. I will give Fielder of the Day to John Crossland who conceded few if any byes after about the fifth over and took our only catch.
Quote of the Day - "Some of our batsman are like cups of tea. They are OK while they last, but they don't last long." - Who else but John Crossland ?
Wimbledon United 223 for 4 from 35 overs (Alex 104)
Nomads' bowling
Sami 7-0-29-0
Imran 7-0-48-1
E. Todorow 7-0-28-1
Abdul Khan 7-0-49-0
Mohib 2-0-25-0
R. Khan 4-0-30-1
D. Gunawardena 1-0-5-1
Clapham Nomads 129 for 10 from 35 overs - (12-a-side match)
Gul b Brown 6
R. Khan caught ? b Brown 9
D. Gunawardena b Brown 0
Mohib lbw Rowan 0
Hamid caught ? b Rowan 9
Abdul Khan b Dean 43
N. Lefebve b Martin 8
Sami caught ? b Hasan 12
Imran b Martin 4
E. Todorow b Martin 12
J. Crossland not out 0
R. Khan (extra innings) not out 12
F.O.W. - 15, 15, 16, 16, 40, 87, 100, 106, 111, 117
Nomads lost by 94 runs.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment